Bringing Back an Old Favorite~Double Thick Potato Cheese Soup

It's the perfect day for Double Thick Potato Cheese soup, and I love it so much!
I thought I'd repost the recipe for those of you who didn't know me last year.   Yum, yum!

♥ Crockpot Recipe ♥

2 pounds of baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 in. cubes


2 cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 1/2 cups finely chopped green onions

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup sour cream

1 cup milk

black pepper to taste


All you have to do is combine the potatoes, soup, 1 cup green onions, garlic powder, and red pepper into the slow cooker. Cover, and cook on low for 8 hours (or on high for 4)

Add cheese, sour cream, and milk; stir until cheese has completely melted. Cover, and cook on high for 10 minutes. Season to taste with black pepper. Garnish with remaining green onions. Makes 7 servings.

Jesse and I love putting this in sourdough bread bowls. The bread just makes it even homier. It's such a yummy, chilly evening treat!

Calling All Camera Pros!

I'm so excited.  Jesse and I have been saving up for months and months to get a new camera.  The one we have right now is from my sophomore year of high school, and it's a dinosaur of digital point-and-shoots!

Our family has been giving us money on our birthdays to go toward a new camera, and we're finally there!  We're planning on saving even more by waiting until Black Friday.

Buuuuuuuuuut...we need recommendations.  We really want a Digital SLR, but we have no experience with them and don't really know what to look for.

That's where you come in.  So many of you, my sweet blogger friends, take beautiful pictures that make me gasp, sigh, swoon...you name it, I've done it :-)

I've heard from many people that the Nikon D60 is the one to go for, but other people say the Canon Rebel is just as good (and much cheaper!)  Does it all really just come down to the lens you use?

What do you have?
What would you recommend we look for specs-wise when choosing a camera?
Anything you did that you would do differently if you had the opportunity?

Jesse and I are planning to enroll in a digital photography class in the Spring.  Talk about Date Night!  ;-)
We can't wait for a new camera and all of the new opportunities it will bring!

Send me your wisdom!

You Know You've Been Crocheting Too Much Lately When...

Oh my.  I think I need to put my hooks and skeins down.  It's getting to my brain!

I just picked up an apple, peeled the little sticker off of it, and thought, "Wow, it has its dye lot on it!"

Lol...I might be a little more sane after the craft fair next Saturday.  One week!

If you're in the area, swing on by!

I Really Should Just Open a Bakery...

Today, as I was walking a group of third graders back to their class after practicing their speech with me, one of the little boys came up alongside me.
"Mrs. Brubaker?  I have a question," He said, pushing his glasses up on his nose, "Do you like to bake?"
"Yes, I do,"  I smiled at him. 

It was sort of a random question, but being 2.5 years into this marriage, I had an inkling where his train of thought was going.

"I thought so," He said proudly, as if he had cracked a major mystery, "That's why your name is Mrs. Brubaker!"


Oh, yes...I am Mrs. Baker, Mrs. Bagel, Mrs. Bakery, Mrs. Blueberry, Mrs. Blue Bagel, Mrs. Rude Baker, Mrs. Blue Baker, and Mrs. Cake Baker.  I feel like I must have heard them all by now.  But each one still makes me laugh, and I know that with childrens' creativity, they're just going to keep coming!

A Funny Memory

One of my favorite blogs to read is Amanda Maguire's Married to a Youth Pastor.
She's down to earth.  She gets it.  She knows that being married to a youth pastor isn't all rainbows and daisies.  I go to her site when I need a laugh, and she  always reminds me that I'm not the only one!

This week, Amanda asked her readers to post the time we've had the most inappropriate giggles.  I remembered the first time that Jon came to church with us, and it made me laugh.  I thought I'd share that laugh with you :-)

I grew up in a small reformed church, but when I went to college and married a handsome Lutheran, I became a Lutheran. The first time that my brother came to visit me and come to church with us, it was a communion Sunday. At our church growing up, the elders passed plates of bread and wine across the pews and each communicant member took one. At the church where my husband is the youth pastor, elders usher members up to the altar to receive from the pastor. Since I’m not big about having anyone put food in my mouth, I put my hands out in front of me so that our pastor will put the wafer in my palm instead.



When we walked up and knelt at the altar that day, I motioned to my brother (who had never experienced communion this way) to put his hands out like I was. When the pastor came by with the bread and saw Jon’s outstretched hands, he went to put the bread in his hands. I’m not sure what Jon thought his hands were supposed to do, because he opened his mouth and followed Pastor’s hand trying to eat the bread all the way down to his outstretched palms.  He looked so ridiculous trying to eat out of Pastor’s hand that I went into full, body-shaking laughter.


Up at the altar.


In front of 300 people.


I couldn’t compose myself and had to walk back to our pew still gasping for air.


Siiiiighh….what a great first impression of the new Youth Pastor’s wife!!!!

Election Day

This is a conversation I heard at school today that made me laugh:

Teacher: Alright, class, time to go to lunch!  Please get your things quickly; I need to run out during lunch and vote.
Second Grader: Are you going to vote for yourself?
Teacher: No!  I'm going to vote for the candidates.
Second Grader: Oh.  My daddy nominated himself for governor!

Happy November!

It's November already!

Now, how did that happen?!?

Can't believe how quickly October flew...but, ohmygoodness, so many exciting things are coming up!

First of all, I've been doing the happy dance for the last couple of weeks because I have plans.

Big plans.

Plans that include a website of my own and an etsy shop.  I can't wait to get them up and show you!

For now, though, want a sneak peak at a few of my newest creations?  (and some of my wonderful friends!)
Pictures compliments of my amazing sister, Kate.

Stay tuned!